Welcome to the new TV

This week has a lot of changes for television both local and nationally. Two main reasons for this: it’s September and the fall season is starting, plus CRTC broadcast licenses for conventional television stations end on Aug. 31.

MuchMusic’s digital specialty channels MuchVibe, MuchLOUD, MuchMoreRetro, PunchMuch go commercial-free. MuchMusic and MuchMoreMusic – which still have enough viewers to sell commercials – continue to air ads, as will programs that are simulcasted on the digital specialty channels and Much or MMM.

The BBM ratings system switches to the “Personal People Meter“, a device that had been tested in the Montreal market, to allow nationwide monitoring of what people watch and listen to on TV and radio. The PPM is a pager-like device worn by sample audiences, and replaces the less accurate diaries that relied on self-reporting.

8am (6am in Red Deer): CHCA, an E! network station in Red Deer, Alta., goes off the air. (UPDATE: Its last newscast, from last Friday, has been uploaded to YouTube in eight parts)

8:30am (5:30am in Kelowna): CHBC, a former E! network station in Kelowna, B.C., is rebranded “Global Okanagan” as the E! network shuts down.

Tomorrow, Sept. 1

12am: The CRTC begins billing cable and satellite companies 1.5% of their revenues for a Local Programming Improvement Fund, to help small-market television stations. Bell and Shaw, Canada’s satellite providers, have responded by adding a 1.5% fee to consumers’ bills beginning today. Videotron, Quebec’s main cable provider, hasn’t decided to follow suit yet.

At the same time, the CRTC lifts the cap on the amount of advertising conventional television stations can air. It had previously been at 15 minutes per hour. The CRTC believes that the market will self-regulate the amount of advertising (after all, a station with too many ads is going to lose viewers).

1am (10pm in Victoria): CHEK-TV in Victoria goes off the air. See below.

6am: As conventional broadcast stations across the country (at least the ones that are part of large networks like Global, CTV, CityTV and TVA) get new one-year licenses, new local programming requirements come into effect. They require 7 hours of original programming for small markets and 14 hours for large markets (the latter includes Montreal on both the anglo and franco side). TVA’s local programming numbers are defined on a case-by-case basis: 18 hours a week for Quebec City and 5 hours a week for Rimouski, Chicoutimi and Sherbrooke. TQS, because it got special consideration from the CRTC after going bankrupt, isn’t affected by these changes.

6pm: Global Quebec CKMI becomes Global Montreal with a rebranded evening newscast after a CRTC decision this summer allowed them to relicense and accept local advertising. Global Ontario is similarly changing to Global Toronto.

Wednesday, Sept. 2

1am (10pm in Victoria): CHEK-TV in Victoria goes off the air. See below.

And last night ‘the voice of God’ was still introducing “from the Global Quebec studios in Montreal, the evening news with Jamie Orchard” … Amanda Jelowicki introduced herself instead as usual, but didn’t think to correct the station name.

The fixed panel on the front of the newsdesk had been changed to Global Montreal, however (about the only part of the set that required a physical change) … might be worth keeping an eye out on that part of the set next time you suspect a Toronto or Ottawa newscaster is remotely substituting.